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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. tear — from crying
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. race — a contest
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. degree — temperature
  9. race — humankind
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bat — the animal
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. sharp — clever
  16. degree — from a university
  17. tear — to rip
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. race — the arms race
  20. deal — to handle
  21. degree — an amount
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wax — to grow
  24. deal — a big deal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com